The next item is item 6, the debate on the petition P-05-912, 'Supporting Families with Sudden and Unexpected Death in Children and Young Adults'. I call on the Chair of the Petitions Committee to move the motion. Jack Sargeant.  

Motion NDM7814 Jack Sargeant

To propose that the Senedd:

Notes the petition P-05-912 'Supporting Families with Sudden and Unexpected Death in Children and Young Adults’ which received 5,682 signatures.

Motion moved.

Thank you, acting Llywydd. On behalf of the Petitions Committee, thank you for the opportunity to introduce this important debate. This is the first debate brought forward by the committee in the sixth Senedd, and the first debate for me as Chair of the Petitions Committee. 

Members, as a new committee and Chair—and I say with pride that I believe it's the youngest committee Chair in our Senedd's history—I have been reflecting on the opportunity our petitions process offers. Petitioning the Senedd provides a way for the people of Wales to raise their voice and have their say. It’s a way to highlight the important and challenging issues, seek answers and find solutions. It’s a way to make a positive difference. And debates like this one today ensure that those petitions that have captured the imagination of thousands of people across Wales are heard and discussed on the floor of their Parliament. It’s the way we as elected Members consider the strength of their ideas, their merits, and the barriers to implementing them.

The petition we are discussing today, 'Supporting Families with Sudden and Unexpected Death in Children and Young Adults’, was originally due to be debated in March 2020 and led by our wonderful previous Chair, Janet Finch-Saunders, but was sadly postponed due to the pandemic. Llywydd, the petition was submitted by Rhian Mannings. In her petition, Rhian calls for the Welsh Government 

'to provide support for a service...to ensure families who unexpectedly lose their child or young adult aged 25 years and under get the support they require.'

I want to begin by paying tribute to Rhian, who is here today, for her inspirational leadership and the commitment to improving the support for people and families facing the loss of a child or young person. Out of the most tragic of circumstances imaginable, Rhian has dedicated herself to improving the support received by others. I am sure that these sentiments will echo throughout the debate in our Chamber today. 

During our meeting a few weeks ago, I met Nadine, who turned to 2 Wish Upon A Star for help. Now, Nadine said something about loss and dealing with it that struck me powerfully. It was raw, but it was a situation I recognise only too well, and I'm sure many of us, sadly, will recognise it too. She said, acting Llywydd, and I quote: 'My family have a shitometer, reflecting that every day is shit. Some days are the shittiest when triggers come fast and furious. These are not necessarily the anniversaries.' And acting Presiding Officer, I can say, in the run-up to losing my dad in a tragic and sudden, unexpected event, the anniversary of four years this Sunday, anniversaries are tough and I'm struggling perhaps more than I ever have. However, it does not have to be that anniversary. The triggers can be anything, any day, and it could be because of anything. 

Many of us will know that Rhian lost her son George and her husband Paul, tragically in the space of just five days in 2012. In both cases, she recounts a lack of support available to support her and her family with these most harrowing of circumstances. It is impossible, I think, for most of us to fully comprehend what it is like to face a situation like this. Tragically, there are many other people and families watching today, both here in the Senedd and outside, on Senedd.tv online, that have also experienced loss and grief at a level that most people will never have to face.

However, out of these circumstances, Rhian established the 2 Wish Upon a Star charity—a charity that provides vital help and support to others. 2 Wish supports families and staff through the unexpected loss of a child or young adult by providing memory boxes, counselling and a number of immediate support services. Longer term support can include complementary therapy, play therapy, focus support groups, residential weekends and monthly events. The offer of support is made by front-line healthcare workers at the point of or in the hours following the tragic death. Once verbal consent from the family has been gained, the healthcare worker will contact 2 Wish with information regarding the death and the family. 2 Wish will make the first contact within the first 24 to 48 hours of the referral being made. However, at present, not all families are immediately or directly offered support, and Rhian seeks to ensure that a pathway for bereaved families must ensure that a proactive offer of support is made. Acting Presiding Officer, families must be asked, and, of course, they may decline that offer.

Without an offer of support, families who have just lost a child are left on their own to cope. Some are given information leaflets about services, which places the onus on families to reach out and find support available and the appropriate support available for their need. They face answerphone messages, long waiting times and the possibility that the organisations listed on those pieces of paper might be unable to support them. Rhian herself describes how this causes feelings of isolation, loneliness and low self worth. 2 Wish works with every hospital, mortuary, coroner's office and police force in Wales. They have strong relationships with the Wales Air Ambulance, organ donation teams, and are involved in the child death review with Public Health Wales. Referrals by these organisations are, sadly, made daily. It provides support to staff who deal with sudden death in young people, and provides training around the offer of support and how to support suddenly bereaved families. It also offers immediate and ongoing support to professionals who are struggling following the death of a child. Members of the Petitions Committee have received testimonials of their work from every police force in Wales. These petitions clearly express how reliant they are on the services, both to support members of the public, and, importantly, their own officers. My own police force, North Wales Police, told the committee that the support of 2 Wish has enabled them to revitalise and streamline the support provided in response to tragic events.

When the Petitions Committee considered this petition for the first time, the Welsh Government had established a bereavement support working group to help develop and deliver improved support arrangements. Bereavement support, as Members will know, has three components, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence: provision of information and signposting; formal opportunities to reflect upon grief, in individual or group sessions; and specialist interventions, possibly including psychological support and counselling. The Government has also commissioned a study of bereavement services. It has highlighted that several organisations indicated challenges in meeting the demand for their services. This is a clear issue, considering the vital importance for services to be able to respond quickly to support the people at their very time of need.

Services such as those provided by 2 Wish already provide support to significant numbers of families each year in Wales. The number of referrals to the services has increased every single year since the charity was established in 2014. These referrals have been generated through their own dedication and dedicated working with the NHS, police forces, GPs and mental health services. However, they do cite examples of significant numbers of families not signposted to their support. The petition calls for every family facing the most difficult of circumstances to be offered support. No family, professional or individual should be left to cope on their own. As the petition goes on to explain:

'Families require support immediately after such loss. They need to have a point of contact if they have questions and a friendly ear to listen. You never get over the loss of your child and families need to know there is long term support in place for to help them through the grieving process.'

So many bereavement services, including those of 2 Wish, are provided by charities, and the committee has received concerns about the lack of funding from the public sector for the services that these organisations provide. Despite referring people to the services, no health boards in Wales currently provide any funding to 2 Wish. We as a committee believe that this is something that could and should be addressed by the Welsh Government. There is a question of long-term sustainability when we are relying on fundraising and charitable donations alone to pay for such vital services.

In conclusion, the committee acknowledges the steps taken by the Welsh Government for the establishment of the bereavement support working group and the associated study of existing services. We note the development and consultation on the draft national framework for bereavement care. We hope that these will deliver lasting improvements to the support available to everyone affected by the loss of a child or young person.

However, through this debate today, we are seeking further commitments about the Welsh Government's approach moving forward. Does the Government intend to work towards ensuring that all professionals follow an immediate support pathway at the time of death? The petitioner has proposed that this should be done in a way that takes responsibility away from the bereaved family or individual and places it upon the organisation to proactively offer and arrange that support. I hope that the Minister—who I know is very keen to support this charity, and I praise the Minister for the work she's done both before her post and in her post to date—will be able to refer to this in her response to today's debate.

The petitioner has also called for improved training for healthcare workers who may need to support bereaved families and for those professionals so that they themselves have somewhere to turn for support. 

Finally, Llywydd, what approach does the Welsh Government intend to take to ensure that these critical support services are available for everyone who needs them and are adequately funded for this purpose? Can we continue with a situation in which support signposted by the NHS, by every single police force in Wales and others is provided in large part through charitable funding? Providing support to people dealing with sudden bereavement is something we should all aspire to. Acting Presiding Officer, this is an area where Wales can set an example to other nations, and I want us all today, as Members of the Senedd, to light a candle, a candle that will give people heat and light in the darkest and coldest of circumstances.

I very much look forward to hearing the contributions of Members here in the Chamber, and, of course, the Deputy Minister's response. Diolch yn fawr iawn. 

I'd now like to call Joel James, a member of the committee, to speak. 

Thank you, Chair. I'd like to start by adding my support to the comments that my colleague Jack Sargeant has made in opening this debate and also thank all those individuals and families who've campaigned tirelessly over the years to bring this issue to light and for it to get the coverage it needs. 

Throughout the course of bringing this petition to debate, many people have shared their own personal and often painful experiences, and, though this will have been very difficult for them, they have done so in the hope that lessons can be learned and that families who ultimately do suffer the sudden loss of a child or young person can get the help and support that they need. Sadly, this isn't always the case. I have no doubt that we can all agree that grief affects everyone differently and that it can sometimes be months or even years before the true ramifications and consequences of someone's experience really hits home.

Grief can also potentially be the start of a cycle of behaviour that can lead to far more destructive patterns of behaviour, and it's not uncommon for families who've suffered a traumatic and sudden bereavement to end up breaking down completely and for there to be, sadly, further unfortunate consequences. With this in mind, immediate support is crucial in helping families overcome the first moments of grief, particularly with the loss of a child or young person, when the loss seems so unfair. But we must be mindful, even if the support in the early days and weeks is available and good, that there still needs to be sufficient follow-up to ensure that people do not end up going down the wrong path.

The lengths that Rhian Mannings and others have gone to to establish the 2 Wish charity are truly incredible, especially given the circumstances that they have found themselves in, as my colleague Jack Sargeant has already highlighted. To be able to offer immediate support within hours of a sudden death and to then offer a wraparound service to suit everyone's needs is unique and something that we should be proud to support. Many organisations across the United Kingdom are desperately trying to get a service like that offered by 2 Wish, and having Welsh Government support to be able to formalise it and fund the service would be a massive step for helping bereaved families.

What the presented petition, and, ultimately, this debate, represent is a cultural change within the health service to recognise the need for consistent support for families and for staff to have appropriate training to respond more intuitively to the needs of families after the sudden death of a child or loved one.

Unfortunately, we know that good practice is not consistent across organisations, but we need to aim to ensure that it is. Too often, people can experience psychiatric illness or mental health issues after a bereavement, due to not receiving the support that they need. This, of course, has bigger implications further down the road, when they need to access mental health services that are already under considerable pressure. 

I think we also need to acknowledge the benefits of a learning culture, so that when things go wrong there is proper analysis of why and we understand how we can prevent it from happening again. Charities like 2 Wish have undoubtedly proven that we are able to do things better, but we must not become complacent on this issue. We need to appreciate the benefits of supporting families, parents and even friends of those who have suffered the sudden death of a child or young person, and to formally recognise its place within the health service by securing its appropriate and long-term funding. It is only right that this important debate is taking place, and I offer my wholehearted support for it. Thank you.  

I call Buffy Williams, who's also a committee member.

Diolch, acting Llywydd, and diolch to Jack for your contribution in opening today's debate. As a new Member of the Senedd and a new member of the Petitions Committee, I'd like to start by saying just how important petitions are, not only to us as Senedd Members, but for residents living across all four corners of Wales. We—. Sorry, not to only to us as the Senedd Members, but for residents living across all four corners of Wales. We speak to and support our constituents every day, but for me petitions are the best way of knowing what matters most to the people we represent in this Chamber.

Today's petition, 'Supporting Families with Sudden and Unexpected Death in Children and Young Adults', reached over 5,500 signatures, which just goes to show the immense strength of feeling, and is testament to the incredible work provided by the charity 2 Wish Upon A Star. 

I'd like to echo the words of Jack Sargeant in paying tribute to the petitioner, Rhian Mannings. I was fortunate enough to meet Rhian when she visited the Senedd to discuss the petition. I was absolutely heartbroken listening to Rhian's story. Walking out into the dark of night with no offer of support is a feeling no family that has just lost their child or young adult should have to endure. I was humbled by her strength and determination.

Consumed in grief, Rhian created the charity 2 Wish Upon A Star with the objective of providing support to anyone affected by the sudden and unexpected death of a child or young person aged 25 or under. It takes real courage to find light in such darkness. 2 Wish has been Rhian's light, and thanks to her tireless work 2 Wish is now the light for so many other families who've lost loved ones.

We use the word 'support' a lot, and I think we sometimes forget exactly what support looks and feels like, and the impact it has on those on the receiving end. Support from 2 Wish Upon A Star begins with the immediate offer of a memory box. And, upon the bereaved granting consent, 2 Wish will be sitting down with their families or individuals in their living rooms, and will maintain weekly contact until the support is no longer required.

The charity is able to provide this invaluable package of support through working in partnership with all health boards, hospitals, police forces, coroners and mental health teams across Wales. It's absolutely heartbreaking that some families are currently deprived of this service; it simply isn't fair. I can't emphasise enough the importance of the provision 2 Wish provides, and the difference the charity's aims and objectives, outlined in this booklet, would make to bereaved families across Wales.

Having created my own charity, I understand just how difficult it can be to obtain grant funding. The constant worry of trying to obtain the grant funding can sometimes take away from the provision you are trying to provide. Such important provision, provided by 2 Wish, needs the funding it deserves, and I would urge the Minister to seriously consider the petition's request.

I have just a few words in welcoming and supporting this important petition. The demand is quite simple, isn't it: to ensure that families who lose children or young adults unexpectedly do receive the support that they need. And it is a heartfelt call and I'd like to thank Rhian Mannings for all of her campaigning work on this very important issue, arising of course from her own experience, and with over 5,500 signatures, it's clearly an issue that has touched many, many people.

The death of a child is an experience that I can hardly countenance. It will be the most traumatic experience imaginable, having a significant impact on whole families: on parents, on siblings, on the broader family and even whole communities. And bereavement can impact physical as well as mental health. Research shows that people who mourn a child face a greater risk—the unexpected nature of it and the failure to accept it or to deal with it are more likely to lead to long-term grief. And it was heartbreaking to hear about Rhian's experience and that of her family, that they hadn't been offered any support after leaving the hospital following the death of their son, George. And I have nothing but admiration for Rhian for all of her work since then, campaigning to try to ensure that other families don't face the same situation.

I think the feedback that 2 Wish—the charity that Rhian established—has received is proof of the value of the support that they provide. I can quote from one mother from their website who said:

'They have helped our family stick together when we were too weak to cling to one another. The individual counselling sessions provided a safe haven to talk; or not. The group sessions provided not just for parents, but also for grandparents have helped us share the load.'

Now, 2 Wish makes first contact with families within 24 or 48 hours of people being referred to them, but they are concerned that not everyone is able to access that kind of support. And that's what they are asking for through this petition: that medical staff should provide that offer of support to families, even if the family doesn't necessarily feel that they want to take advantage of that offer. As Natalie Edwards, who lost her son, Griff, when he was eight months old, said, also on the 2 Wish website:

'It was support we hoped we would never need. But we do. And we are so very grateful that it is there.'

So, let us ensure that that support is available for all families facing this nightmare.

As chair of the cross-party groups on hospices and palliative care and on funerals and bereavement in both this and the last Senedd, I've worked with our group member, Rhian Mannings, who submitted this petition and who founded the all-Wales charity 2 Wish Upon a Star, providing essential bereavement support for families who have suddenly or traumatically lost a child or young adult under 25, which may be from suicide or may be through accident or illness. 

She told me that sudden death is the forgotten death in Wales and that, although the charity has effectively become a statutory service in Wales, working with every health board and every police force, they receive no statutory support and have to raise every penny themselves, despite reducing pressure on mental health teams by helping to tackle the unforeseeable trauma of unpredictable death and loss.

She started her fight, as we've heard, after her husband and son were taken from her suddenly. No preparation, she said, no warning, and then nothing, and states that the lack of support they received led directly to her husband taking his own life. Indeed, her determination to provide the support she would have wanted to receive after the death of her son and husband is why we are debating this most critical of issues today.

There is currently no official bereavement support for families in Wales. It’s all provided by organisations like 2 Wish Upon A Star or hospices like Tŷ Gobaith children’s hospice near Conwy, where services include their snowflake room—a special, temperature-controlled room where families and friends can spend time saying goodbye, in their time and in their own way, to children who have died.

The cross-party groups welcome the draft national framework for the delivery of bereavement care, published last week. Group members contributed significantly to its development, and our work programmes include focus on many of the topics contained within the framework. The framework’s ambition to ensure that people in Wales have timely access to quality bereavement care and support touches at the very heart of today’s debate. No family should be left alone and isolated after the loss of a child.

In cross-party group meetings, we’ve also discussed instances of lack of understanding by public sector bodies of the specific bereavement needs of black and minority ethnic families in Wales. Indeed, the cross-party group on hospices and palliative care and Compassionate Cymru inquiry recommended tailored services to meet the specific needs of racialised communities, involving people from diverse communities to co-produce services.

Today’s petition rightly calls for the Welsh Government to support a service here in Wales to ensure that families who unexpectedly lose their child or young adult, aged 25 years and under, get the support they require. Let us heed the senior North Wales Police detective who told me, 'The services that 2 Wish Upon A Star provided the families across Wales who have suffered such a tragic event is very much needed and something that has been evidently lacking in north Wales from my own professional experience. North Wales Police has definitely seen the benefit of the services 2 Wish Upon A Star provide, not only in providing the families with a suitable environment within a hospital setting to discuss the circumstances with the professionals involved, but also somewhere where they can begin to come to terms with their loss. Furthermore', they said, '2 Wish Upon A Star provides essential ongoing professional support mechanisms for the family network thereafter.' And in addition to supporting families, 2 Wish Upon A Star has supported training to North Wales Police officers, which has had a significant impact on how they deal with the death of any child. 'Their involvement has undoubtedly assisted us', they said, 'in professionalising our approach.'

I’ll leave the last word to a senior North Wales Police staff member, who e-mailed, 'I was aware of 2 Wish Upon A Star from discussions in the workplace with colleagues. Unfortunately, I subsequently found myself in the position whereby I witnessed at first hand the benefit that 2 Wish Upon A Star can bring to those who suffer the incomparable devastation that only the loss of a child can bring. In my case, it was the death of my eight-week old nephew. I can confidently say that the benefit to his parents from 2 Wish Upon A Star has been immeasurable and continuing.' 'Without the help of schemes like this', he said, 'the darkness that can surround those suddenly and traumatically bereaved will be so much harder to navigate. I urge you', he said, 'to give this debate your fullest support.' Diolch.

Thank you to the Petitions Committee for bringing forward this important petition and debate today. This is my first petitions debate since becoming a Member of the Senedd, and first of all I’d like to congratulate Mr Sargeant on his chairing of that committee and bringing this item forward today, and on what, for me, was a humbling contribution from you, Jack. It certainly puts into perspective the petition in front of us here today. Despite the sad nature of many petitions that are submitted to the Senedd, echoing the words of Buffy earlier, I think it's fantastic to see democracy in action and ordinary members of the public being able to submit any petition that they like, and for us in this national Parliament to be able to look into these and to debate those petitions.

Looking at the petition in front of us here today, 'Supporting Families with Sudden and Unexpected Death in Children and Young Adults,' it is of course vitally important that we look into this and provide the best support that is possible. I'm sure there are Members in the Chamber here today who perhaps will have lost a child or a young adult, or perhaps they have close members of their family or friends who have lost a child suddenly—and I think of my own family at this time as well with this particular petition. And as the petition states, we desperately need to ensure that those families, perhaps some of our own families here, who unexpectedly lose their child, receive that support that they need to get them through. It is a travesty that some families are left to their own devices and don't receive any support or contact from professionals.

Nevertheless, I want to take just a few moments to focus on some of those organisations that are doing a great job in this field at the moment already. Over the summer, I had the pleasure of meeting with Tŷ Gobaith, who Mr Isherwood referred to a moment ago, who, along with Tŷ Hafan, are Wales's only children's hospices. It's hospices like these that are rightly known for the support that they provide to families whose children have life-limiting illnesses. But they also provide exceptional support for the families of any child or young person who has died suddenly, whether or not they've had previous contact with the hospice. And the family were given access to the full range of support services offering guidance, care, and in many cases, being a sounding board or a shoulder to cry on. When I visited Tŷ Gobaith, I was taken aback by their snowflake room, which again Mr Isherwood referred to a few moments ago. This room allows family members to be with their child for a longer period of time after they've passed away. It's such an important time for families to spend with their loved ones, providing opportunities for other members of the child's life to say goodbye in their own way. And it's really important, I think, to remember that many families and people grieve in many different ways, meaning different aspects of support must be available, and as the petition requests here today, offered to those grieving families at the very least.

We've heard today of the good work, excellent work, by 2 Wish Upon a Star, who provide immediate and ongoing bereavement support to those affected by the sudden and traumatic loss of a child or young adult, aiming to help those faced with the unimaginable to live again, smile again and to never give up hope. So, these are some great examples of where support is available, and it's helping families throughout Wales. But I think one of the issues being highlighted through this petition is certainly a lack of consistency and a lack of certainty that support will be available for every family who is sadly bereaved. And that for me is why, certainly, I'm more than happy to put my weight behind this petition, so we have that consistency, that assurance that any family who does suffer bereavement will have that support offered to them.

So, to conclude, Chair, I'd like to thank the Petitions Committee again for all the fantastic work that they've done in this Senedd term—and with Ms Finch-Saunders chairing the Petitions Committee previously, the work done previously as well—and, of course, the contributions from Members in the Chamber today, I must say, are humbling and heart-warming, that we're seeking to see the best for the people of Wales. I'm sure that all Members can get behind the petition and ensure the Welsh Government provides all families and friends with the right support that they need in their darkest time. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

I don't wish to repeat other contributions today, but I do wish to echo other sentiments and pay tribute to Rhian and others who have suffered the worst of times but have found the strength to help so many others. We are united today in our support, and rightly so. This is something that we hope we'll never have to experience but unfortunately happens, and whatever we put in place, we cannot end sudden or unexpected death in children and young adults, but we can take steps to reduce. But being able to ensure that the services are there when the worst thing happens is something that is within our control.

Looking at the petition, and specifically Rhian's response to the committee, I would urge the Minister—and I'm sure you have done so—to look carefully at Rhian's recommendations, because, obviously, she is coming from a place of experience and representing so many. In her correspondence to the Petitions Committee, Rhian mentioned the survey of bereavement services in Wales in 2020, and, as Sam rightfully mentioned, the lack of consistency. And though we do have a summary of those responses, it isn't clear what those services are, who's delivering them and neither what kind of support is being provided. In the survey, it also states that 42 per cent of services provide immediate support, but that isn't measured either. It isn't clear what that support constitutes. Rhian rightfully says that we need to better understand, even though this survey has taken place, what the current situation is, because my experience already as a new Member is that it is very difficult to find what services are available locally, especially representing an area such as South Wales Central, which, obviously, covers two different health boards and so on. It is very difficult to be able to signpost exactly what the services are.

As we've heard during this debate, the fact that it is charities such as 2 Wish that are providing this essential support means that it isn't mandatory at present. I think that's the thing that I would like to see come out of the petition more than anything else: we have warm words of support, we know the value of services provided, we realise the impact of organisations such as 2 Wish—we've also got organisations like Grief Support Cymru within my region—but, at the worst of times, we need to make sure that staff who are faced with grieving parents and relatives and so on know where to signpost immediately, because, unfortunately, as Rhian tragically experienced herself, that impact is devastating on parents and can lead to further loss and grief.

I would urge the Government to reflect on Rhian's thoughtful and meaningful reflections and recommendations, so that those are fully considered. I don't like with the petitions that we just note petitions. I know that is the way of the Senedd, and I find it extremely strange, because it's not about noting, is it? It's about wholeheartedly supporting the sentiment and the effort behind here, and it is about just ensuring that simple request of the immediate support being mandatory. If we can achieve that, I think that we will be in a better place to support people at the worst of times.

I now call on the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being, Lynne Neagle.

Thank you, acting Presiding Officer. I'd like to thank Jack Sargeant and the Petitions Committee for bringing this important petition to the floor of this Senedd today. I'd also like to thank all Members who've contributed to today's debate. Above all, though, I'd like to thank Rhian Mannings, chief executive and founder of 2 Wish, for tabling this petition, and for working so hard, over many months, which have included a global pandemic, to promote it. I know we've heard today Rhian's story that 2 Wish was set up by Rhian following the sudden death of her baby son George, a tragedy that was followed, just five days later, by the suicide of her husband Paul. It's hard for most of us to imagine the impact of the loss of her baby son and her husband on Rhian. I am personally in awe of the courage that has enabled her to come through such a devastating tragedy to work with such determination to prevent other families going through what she did.

I very much welcome this petition we are debating today. I believe support for families who unexpectedly lose a child or young adult is crucial. Coping with the death of someone special is hard for anyone, but the impact of losing a child or young person is profoundly devastating. I know just how important the kind of support provided by 2 Wish has been for so many families. Their memory boxes at hospitals provide some comfort for families at the darkest time in their lives—a time that most have had no opportunity to prepare for. The ability to offer support shortly after the bereavement or whenever that support is needed, whether that is in six months, two years or longer, is an absolute lifeline for families. Grief is a very personal thing, it is not linear, and any support needs to reflect that. As the petition says,

'You never get over the loss of your child and families need to know there is long term support in place for to help them through the grieving process.'

The ability to support all family members, including bereaved children, is vital. It's so important to recognise too, as 2 Wish does, that the need for support extends to staff members working with families, many of whom struggle with distress and trauma after being there at such a devastating time for families.

I was very pleased in September, on World Suicide Prevention Day, to visit the 2 Wish headquarters in Llantrisant to discuss their pilot suicide bereavement project in Gwent, one of three suicide bereavement pilots in Wales. As some Members here know already, suicide prevention, and especially the prevention of young suicide, is particularly close to my heart. We know that those bereaved by suicide have a much higher risk of dying by suicide, so suicide bereavement support is a key priority for me. Suicide bereavement support is suicide prevention and saves lives. 2 Wish have worked closely with Gwent Police to offer immediate support to anyone bereaved by suicide in Gwent, and that is in addition to their cross-Wales work supporting families who've lost a young person to suicide. So, I'd like to place on record my thanks to 2 Wish and Gwent Police for their vital work in this area.

I want everyone in Wales who has been bereaved to know that help is there for them. With that in mind, last Thursday, I was pleased to announce the launch of the national framework for the delivery of bereavement care in Wales. I commend this framework to Members. It sets out our vision for a compassionate Wales where everyone has access to high-quality bereavement care and support to meet their needs effectively when they need it. I am grateful to the wide range of statutory and voluntary partners who are involved in its development, including those who have experienced bereavement themselves.

The draft framework was subject to an eight-week consultation earlier this year, and some respondents outlined their personal experiences of bereavement in general and bereavement during the pandemic. I would like to thank all respondents for sharing their experiences with us in order to help others. The framework places responsibilities on health boards in terms of commissioning bereavement care to meet the needs of their population. In particular, it sets out the requirements for the establishment of baseline standards and describes how the Welsh Government will monitor these standards, with commissioners being asked to report on their performance at regular intervals.

Turning now to the specific ask within the petition we are considering today, I fully recognise the need for a consistent, clear, immediate referral pathway to be available for families who lose a child or young person wherever they are in Wales. I am committed, as Deputy Minister, to ensuring that we in Wales deliver just that. I therefore commit to work with Rhian, her organisation and others on the national steering group to put in place a standard that focuses specifically on the provision of such support. Rhian and other members of the group's experience will be vital in helping us shape this standard so that it is robust enough to capture whether health boards are proactively offering that support in a consistent way across Wales. I also give the Senedd my commitment today that, as Minister, I will drive this work forward with real urgency and pace. I hope that Rhian, who I worked with on the petition before coming into Government, knows me well enough to know that I will be good to my word on this.

To support the new bereavement framework, we will also be making an additional £420,000 available to health boards in 2022-23 and 2023-24 to help with bereavement co-ordination and implementation of the bereavement standards. We will monitor the implementation of the standards through the Welsh Government's performance management framework, and will challenge those health boards where it is apparent they are not meeting the standards. Clearly, we have to demonstrate that organisations offering support are valued and resourced, and alongside the framework, I announced a £1 million bereavement support grant for our third sector partners for the next three years. I have asked that the criteria for this grant encourage bids from those organisations that are able to offer the immediate support that the petition is calling for. This investment will help to extend and deepen that support across Wales, and help fill those gaps that exist in the current provision.

Supporting those members of our community who are bereaved is in many ways a responsibility for all of us, and I'd like to pay tribute to all of those involved in the care and support of all bereaved people in Wales. I also want to assure you that the Welsh Government is committed to ensuring that anyone in Wales who needs it has access to high-quality bereavement care and support. I'd like to close today by thanking again the Petitions Committee for bringing forward this debate and by giving my heartfelt thanks to Rhian and to 2 Wish for all that they continue to do to support families who face the unthinkable loss of losing a child or young person in their lives. Diolch yn fawr.

I now call on Jack Sargeant to reply to the debate.

Diolch yn fawr, acting Llywydd. In concluding today's debate, I once again want to pay tribute just one more time to Rhian Mannings, to 2 Wish, to everyone who is here watching us today and to those in the wider community who supported this petition. Typically, in Senedd debates, in closing you offer a summary of contributions, and I'm going to try to do that just briefly, but it won't do justice to what cross-party group members have said here in the Chamber. So, I do thank all Members, and that extends to the Deputy Minister for her heartfelt contribution. It was wonderful to hear the Deputy Minister welcome the petition and welcome that the support is needed and it's crucial. And that grief is very personal. I know my colleague on the committee, Joel James, said grief can act as a road map to devastation. I very much recognise that. As Members across the Chamber have said, consistency is needed, and again the Minister referred to that in her response. 

It was great to hear the announcement of funding, because as Buffy Williams rightly recognises from her own inspirational work running charities, there is a consistent worry, and we need to take that worry away for those who have come out from the darkness and into the light so that they can focus on delivering the support that they never had. And it's the support, as Rhun ap Iorwerth said, that we never knew we needed, but thank God it's there. 

In closing, because as I said, the summary of contributions does not do what Members have said justice, it does not do the petition justice, again I want to thank the Deputy Minister for fully recognising that the immediate support pathway is needed, and her commitment to work with Rhian Mannings, with 2 Wish and with those on the bereavement support working group to action this, because that's what we need here in Wales. With the cross-party support that we have here, I believe that we can achieve what this petition set out to achieve. As I said in my opening of this debate, Wales can lead the way for other nations, not just in the United Kingdom but across the globe. 

Acting Presiding Officer, through the petitions process, we do sometimes come into contact with truly inspiring people, people who are seeking to change the world for the better. And it is often having experienced that extreme difficulty in their own lives. Rhian is an example to us all, and I wish to thank her for everything that she has achieved and will continue to achieve. I want to remind her that, just because this has been debated today—our cross-party support from Members of the Senedd continues and we will continue to work with you. 

On behalf of the committee, I would also like to thank the Minister and all Members for their contributions today. Thank you very much. 

And thank you to Rhian Mannings and 2 Wish.

The proposal is to note the petition. Does any Member object? The motion is therefore agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.